Firing at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, US, killed nearly 50 people and injured at least 53, the US DoD lifts ban on transgender service members and the US Army awarded $1.7bn contract to Harris for tactical communication support. Army-technology.com wraps up key headlines from June.

In a statement, Raytheon said that the contract covers Configuration 3+ upgrades to Patriot, which are expected to provide Kuwaiti air defence systems with improved identification and radar capabilities.

North Korea has reportedly test-fired two medium-range Musudan ballistic missiles from Wonsan, a port city on the country’s eastern coast.

The missiles violate the UN Security Council resolution, which prohibits North Korea’s use of ballistic missile technology, according to US Pacific Command spokesperson commander Dave Benham.

US State Department spokesman John Kirby was quoted by the BBC as saying: "We intend to raise our concerns at the UN to bolster international resolve in holding [North Korea] accountable for these provocative actions."

Safran Electronics & Defense is to supply navigation systems for the French Army’s new Griffon armoured vehicles, under its Scorpion programme.

The company will supply an Epsilon 10 navigation system, which provides multirole armoured vehicles with autonomous engagement capability in the case of a GPS signal loss, jamming or other countermeasures.

Safran will also supply a system based on hemispherical resonating gyros (HRG) for Griffon artillery observation version (VOA).